Man banned from being alone with women sexually assaulted Caithness woman he met at bus station

A 71-year-old sex offender who bought alcohol for a Caithness woman he met at a bus station and then sexually assaulted has been jailed for 30 months.

Portgordon man James Farquhar, described as an Inverness prisoner, was on a court order not to be in the unsupervised company of women.

It was imposed after Farquhar was jailed at Elgin Sheriff Court for 18 months with an 18 month extended sentence for sex offences on April 25, 2012.

He admitted two breaches of that order at Inverness Sheriff Court which were committed shortly after he had been released on licence for analogous offences and a charge of sexual assault.

Fiscal depute Susan Love told Sheriff Sara Matheson that Farquhar had met the woman at Elgin bus station and travelled with her to Forres.

The court heard Farquhar repeatedly touched the woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – on her leg, kissed her and put his arm round her during the journey, despite her protests for him to stop.

However, she accompanied Farquhar to several licensed premises in Forres and he touched her on the thigh, buttock, knee and arms.

Ms Love said Farquhar told the woman she would only be allowed to leave when he gave her permission but staff at the Carlton Hotel bar intervened and ensured she could.

Then other customers prevented Farquhar from following her.

Later that day, Farquhar touched the hand of a female member of supermarket staff as police went looking for him following a report of the incident at the hotel.

Defence solicitor advocate Mike Chapman told the court: "He acted in a way he should not have. It will not come as a surprise to the court that quite a lot of alcohol had been consumed by both."

Sheriff Matheson backdated Farquhar's sentence to September 25, 2023 – the date of his remand in custody.